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It never ceases to amaze us that in the majority of rooms we cure, many of their pre-reno components probably cost no more than far more stylish — and readily available — inclusions. So, why then do people continue making mistakes when there are multiple choices out there and a bigger design market than ever before? Well, as far as we see it, it all comes down to planning. Good design, quite simply, manifests via careful shopping, whereas bad design comes as the direct offspring of hasty decision making and an absence of forethought. Must we really expound our “To fail to plan is to plan to fail” mantra again? It’s a mantra, however, that has served us well and one that, if considered properly, proffers good results every time.

But don’t think that planning has to mean spending above your budget. Indeed, buying good quality product needn’t cost any more than buying lesser quality components. Top-end flooring, for example, can cost less than substandard flooring from traditional outlets, courtesy of companies such as Lumber Liquidators who, due to their colossal bulk-buying power, offer luxury options at bargain basement prices. And, of course, stores such as Rona sell awesome “own line” paint that, as far as we see it, is of a similar quality to luxury brands such as Dulux or even Farrow and Ball. And these days, with retail competition as rife as it has become, you can also find affordable designer wallpapers via Graham Brown or Thibault for a fraction what you might expect to pay at exclusive outlets. Aye, a little shopping around goes a long, long way.

When plotting any project, we have to strictly balance the books if we want to assemble results on budget, and this week’s “before and after” is testament to that. Due to the fact we were also reworking a kitchen (not to mention a nursery and a master bedroom), we had to be extra careful with our spend. Employing our own “big statement” affordable default mechanism (wallpaper), we moved on to cut costs on flooring and upholstery, and what’s more, diligently shopped around for everything we used. Further savings were circumstantial: walls were already in perfect condition — and our preparation to update them therefore minimal — and the floor under the existing carpet was perfectly level, which allowed us to lay new boards without the associated costs of screeding or sanding.

With walls already in perfect shape, we were lucky, in our limited time line, that we could apply paint without having to remove existing wall coverings or sand back any imperfections. Note the word lucky; if your surfaces aren’t as good, don’t be tempted to cut corners. Painting over uneven surfaces is a surefire way to disappoint — results might look passable in dim, evening light, but open your curtains by day and flaws will become glaringly obvious.

We coloured the majority of walls in soft off-white latex and, because our clients have children, elected to use a satin finish paint to protect against play marks and sticky fingers.

Tip: Had our walls been any less than perfect, satin paint wouldn’t have delivered such smooth results as it can show up imperfections in a way that matt finish won‘t.

Wallpaper

With big, bold patterns such as this, it’s generally not a good idea to lavish all the walls. Bigger patterns are ideal for accent walls but, if you want to make a statement with all-over applicationm we’d suggest selecting a smaller pattern, or a paper where background and foreground are more tone on tone. And always remember that preparation, pre-papering, is as important as it is before painting. We’ve just watched a show on U.S. TV and the designer threw caution to the wind by wallpapering on top of existing paper. Okay, so dodging the removal of previous wallcoverings might derive quick-fix results, but it also encourages bubbling, peeling and all manner of associated problems.

Flooring

We’re regularly asked which home improvement jobs have the biggest impact on subsequent real estate value. Kitchens and bathrooms, of course, are surefire winners every time (as long as your choice of design reflects market expectation), but another critical aspect is flooring. Today’s ever more style literate homebuyers expect either solid lumber or engineered boards and therefore, while carpeting may be acceptable in bedrooms, we almost always opt for harder floor finishes in main areas such as living rooms and dining rooms.

We mentioned Lumber Liquidators earlier; these guys launched recently in Canada in response to a market that demands quality (but without the associated costs) and their product range is excellent. We specified a warm toffee coloured finish for this scheme and its installation provides style and future proofing in equal measure.

Coffee and side tables

The room, as we found it, missed obvious layers such as coffee and side tables, and without these, it all appeared rather barren. Positioning a simple glass-topped table centre stage created surfaces upon which to dress, while occasional side tables made everything feel planned and properly thought out.

Sofa

Our clients hoped for clean modern lines and particularly liked the idea of leather finishes, which they imagined would easily cope with the rough and tumble of family life. The sofa they’d bought some years past wasn’t particularly on trend, but it did at least have a sensible L-shape configuration, which made best use of space. As an update we specified a similarly shaped chesterfield, this time with black leather upholstery, and we dressed it with heaps of cushions to soften the overall look. As a finishing touch, we added a red throw, carefully folded and positioned at one end, to provide design connectivity.

Accent chair

As much as we like matching upholstery (and indeed use this tactic throughout many of our schemes), we also like to switch things up a little from time to time by employing different textures and patterns to bring our projects alive. The simple hounds tooth chair borrows from our predominantly monochrome colour scheme and its lightly textured pattern adds lovely visual contrast, all while serving to tame the lines of the black leather sectional.

Curtains

Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan are the hosts of HGTV’s Colin & Justin’s Home Heist and the authors of Colin & Justin’s Home Heist Style Guide, published by Penguin Group (Canada). Follow them on Twitter @colinjustin or on Facebook (ColinandJustin). Contact them through their website, www.colinandjustin.tv.

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